The invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for providing location information and, more specifically, to a method and apparatus for providing location information regarding the location of a mobile device to a remotely-located device.
Technology has been developed to aid in the determination of a location. For example, the global positioning system (GPS) and GLONASS satellites allow the location of an object to be determined using receiving apparatus to receive the signals from the satellites. However, the receiving apparatus typically provides only latitude and longitude values. Some receiving apparatus is capable of displaying a map and allows the location to be displayed on the map.
While the receiving apparatus allows the user of the receiving apparatus to know his or her location, it is often not the user who desires to know the user""s location, but someone else who is remotely located from the user. The user may find it beneficial for others (e.g., family members and co-workers) to be able to determine the user""s location. However, because of privacy concerns, the user may not want his or her location to be made available to others all others in an unrestricted manner. Thus, it would be desirable to enable a user to control the distribution of information about his or her location and to provide a method and apparatus related thereto.